Sunday, June 3, 2018

7:30 a.m. 59 degrees and sunny. Surprisingly quiet, for such a beautiful day.

The first thing I did when I arrived was check out the lady slippers. (see Haynes' photo from previous post). They usually bloom slightly before Memorial day, but I wanted to see if they were still out and if there were any more than the one that I saw a few weeks ago. I'm happy to report that this time I was able to locate three of them which means a few were missing from what we saw last year, but at least we weren't down to only one. A pee wee called from the JCC area.

I also saw a few weeks ago these precious little white wildflowers which I'm having trouble identifying, but I will keep on looking. If anyone knows, please leave me a comment.

White wildflowers

It was a very quiet day considering how beautiful it was. The birds must be either nesting or taking care of their young or done! The lower gardens had what one would expect - robins, house wrens, yellow warblers, tree swallows, catbirds, song sparrows and cardinals.

The meadow is sporting a few wildflowers despite the overwhelming majority of artemisia. I saw white daisies, one yellow coreopsis and some white fleabane.

The upper gardens had mostly the same birds as the lower with the addition of some orioles, chimney swifts overhead and goldfinches.

Down by the soccer field and pond area I think I heard a Great crested flycatcher. Has anyone else heard it? I wasn't 100% sure. There were some bull frogs singing from the pond, a warbling vireo and some grackles.

House Wren

I tried to find the cuckoos that Haynes saw last week, but couldn't find them. However, there was a very vocal warbling vireo in a tree next to the dock and for 10 minutes I tried to find him. I never did see him, but in my search, I discovered its hanging nest, so that was nice. A couple of Canada geese cruised up river and a crow and jay were making a bit of a racket. A red-winged blackbird perched on a low branch nearby.

Woodcock meadow was quiet save for a house wren and some song sparrows.

Nahanton Park

Nahanton Park is a very special wildlife area. In a relatively small space, there are several different habitats - the river, a pond, woods, meadow and gardens. These all contribute to the unusual and diverse wildlife one is able to experience on a daily basis at the park.

Please join me in posting your sightings, photos, news or thoughts. Let me know in the comments section and though new to me, we'll figure out how to set you up.